Melanie McCree

Urban Sword & Sorcery

Use of Force, Part Five

April 30: Beth and Melanie are worn out, frankly After everybody was through deciding whether or not to put themselves through scenario hell, we all tromped back into the classroom for a final debrief. Commander Barsness summarized the principles we’d been covering in...

Use of Force, Part Four

April 30: Beth and Melanie get patted down After chili dogs, the A-Team (naturally the group that Beth and I were in) went to get a better look at the SWAT vehicle, which was approximately the size of a bull elephant, if a bull elephant was a semi truck.  Here is an...

Use of Force Part Three

April 30: Beth and Melanie encounter a viking Next, we moved to a smaller room that could reasonably be termed a “shed.” Cement floor, white drywall that felt aged and fragile, a water cooler, absolutely no heating source, an alarmingly well-stocked med kit on a...

Use of Force, Part Two

April 30: Beth and Melanie must accept that they will never pass the Police Academy Exam   Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give it up for House Bill 2037, which governs the use of force in WA State. Sergeant Sofianos: Who knows what RCW stands for? [Beth and Melanie...